A problem encountered when using a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) as a telephony device with a headset connected is that the call or page is not announced or announced sufficiently to get the attention of the user. The typical PDA, such as an IPAQ, Palm Pilot etc., has a mechanical switch that is caused to assume an open position when the headset connector (jack) is inserted into the PDA. The insertion of the jack disconnects the speaker of the PDA, in some models, from the sound output. In other PDAs, the circuitry for an external speaker is short circuited or by-passed and will not function when the headset connector is in place. Thus, the sound generated by the device is only output through the headset and might not be heard by the user.
In the above situations the ability of the PDA to be used as a telephony device is impaired because, unless the typical headset is inserted in or is very near the user's ear, it cannot be heard. If the user forgets to unplug the headset after finishing a call, he will easily miss the next call since such headsets are typically not capable of generating a sufficient sound volume level to alert the user to a new incoming phone call, page or e-mail. Thus, the typical PDA with a headset cannot be used or is of limited use for the reason as a phone.
An additional problem encountered by typical devices, such as PDAs, is that the built in speaker on a PDA may be inconveniently located relative to the built-in microphone; which can effectively preclude use of the device as a telephone without resort to external headphones or speakers. For example, the speaker may be adjacent to the microphone making it impossible to locate the speaker near the ear while at the same time the microphone is near the mouth. So, to use a PDA as a cell phone is normally used, i.e., in-hand with the cell phone held against the head, often requires that a second speaker be located in a different position from that of the built-in speaker.
Another problem existing in typical PDAs and addressed by the present invention is that, in order to use the telephony device (e.g., PDA) as a speaker phone, it is necessary to unplug the earphone speakers and use the on-board speakers, or plug in external speakers, which have sufficient volume to project the sound in a room. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mechanism for permitting the sound output of the typical device to be routed to both the external speakers as well as the headphone set.
Another limitation of typical PDAs is that it is difficult to switch between a private call (using the headphones) and a conference call (using external speakers.) In particular, most typical devices will require the user to plug/un-plug devices in order to switch between those devices which is inconvenient to the user. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mechanism for switching between different modes of operation (i.e., a private call mode and a conference call mode) without requiring the physical connection/disconnection of sound output devices.
The present invention allows a connector component to be inserted in the PDA or computation device, which in conjunction with appropriate software control program, such that the software is aware of the special nature of the device attached and uses that knowledge effectively, advantageously solves the above described problems and limitations of the typical devices. Thus, it is desirable to provide a system and method for VoIP telephony call announcement and it is to this end that the present invention is directed.